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| 主頁 » 隨想隨筆 » 自由投稿 » 緊急代禱：吉國基督徒 |
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緊急代禱事項：
吉爾吉斯坦的基督徒再度面對"死無葬身之地"
*在吉國鄉區的基督徒，一直以來都面對著死後埋葬的問題，所以不同宗派的基督徒彼此之間早已有默契，一旦他們收到消息說某個鄉村有基督徒安息時，鄰近所有的基督徒都不分宗派，馬上聚集起來前往死者的家，這樣做不但給予死者的家人和親屬一個支持，也是要壯大基督徒的人數，以免被該鄉區的回教徒所欺壓。
位于吉爾吉斯坦 (Kyrgyzstan) 首都 (Bishkek) 東南部約470公里的納倫州 (Naryn) 的一個小村莊名叫庫拉納克 (Kulanak) ，有一名主内弟兄全家信主已多年，他的14嵗兒子因長期患病，在首都動了心臟手術後回到家鄉，于隔天2008年5月17日安息主懷，正當他想將兒子埋葬在當地的基督徒墳場並正準備挖掘時（當地牧者早在2006年4月曾向有關當局及官員申請並獲批准，得了一塊土地作為基督徒墳場之用），卻被當地的穆斯林村民阻止，村莊的回教長老及宗教司號召了一批爲數約30人的回教徒，當中有一些酗酒者手持著農耕器具準備使用暴力（當時我在場見到他們正在爭吵，在這種情況之下，外國人不適合在那裏且非常危險，因爲可能會造成一些不必要的誤會，諸如外國人在後面支持並煽動本地基督徒與穆斯林衝突。爲了安全起見及避免被吉國特務（前蘇聯時期稱爲KGB）盯上，後果及不堪設想。所以我就立即遠離現場）。這羣回教徒聲稱，不僅不會允許死者埋葬在那片領土上，甚至整個庫拉納克區也不可埋葬任何的基督徒。這些暴民警告我們的弟兄們說，如果他們再繼續挖掘的話，將對他們施以武力，不但如此，他們也煽動酗酒者使用暴力，因爲根據吉國的法律，一些因酗酒而鬧事甚至殺人的人，是不會被判處死刑的，頂多坐幾年牢就可以出來。
就在當天，該穆斯林社區之代表與區政府官員一起接見當地的首長，希望首長能採取適當的行動以解決此事，然而首長卻將這問題轉交給他的副手去處理，於是這位首長助理與檢察官便前往鬧事的墳場，希望解決村民與基督徒之間的衝突。可是經過談判後，穆斯林社區再一次重申，他們堅持不讓該年輕弟兄埋葬，除非死者家人願意公開接受自我譴責以及否認他們的信仰，並重新皈依伊斯蘭教。
不幸的是，這些地方官員及檢察官不但不依法行事，反而挺身替當地的穆斯林社區說：「是的，基督徒有信仰的自由和權力，也能在這片土地上埋葬他們的兒子，但我們必須與村民的立場一致，我們不能違背他們的意思。」不但如此，這些官員們還取消了他們早在2006年4月所發出的基督徒墳場之准許証。這些官員怕人過於怕上帝，其後果不堪設想。
此事已經擾攘了四天了，衝突仍未結束，而這名年輕弟兄的遺體也一直無法入土爲安。直至5月21日，該鄉村的暴民要求來自外地的牧師、基督徒和領袖們離開，說：「這個内部問題應該由這鄉村社區自己解決，不需要"外來人"插手干預。」然而這些來自外地的牧者、教會領袖及肢體們並沒有離開。
本地的大部分的媒體包括官方媒體在内，都是偏袒回教徒，故此據官方媒體報道，納倫 (Naryn) 州長已經「妥善處理」了這件事件，而根據一些非官方的報道，該州長警告說，如果在這鄉區內發生任何的暴力或衝突事件的話，基督徒是無法逃避責任且必須受到譴責。
於是當地的牧者們已經正式向總統巴基耶夫 (Kurmanbek Bakiev) 尋求幫助，以保護他們可以在鄉區行使他們的信仰權力，並埋葬這位年輕的弟兄。可是到了5月22日深夜，爲數大約30名軍警人員突然破門而入，將喪家所有的人趕出後院，並恐嚇他們說：如果你們膽敢反抗的話，我們就會將你們的房子燒掉，接著他們進到喪家強行將這年輕弟兄的遺體取走，強行塞進早已停放在門前窄小的警車之後箱，之後並載到50公里以外的納倫（Naryn）埋葬，使這男孩無法埋葬在自己的家鄉。這些軍警人員並沒有按照傳統規格和方式埋葬該遺體，而只是隨便埋葬。他們挖掘的洞穴很淺 ，強行將該弟兄的遺體勉強塞進去該洞穴之後就將泥土蓋上，這已違背了當地人的傳統文化。之後他們並沒有通知其家人他們的孩子埋在何處。教會的一些弟兄們就分頭去找，終于在50公里以外的納倫（Naryn）找到了埋葬年輕弟兄的墳墓，他們再將該遺體取出，清洗後用白布包裹；並將該洞穴挖深以讓該遺體能夠擺放。這些軍警人員的這種做法實在是令人髮指。更令人遺憾的是，當地的傳媒卻作了一些虛假的報道，報道上指政府並沒試圖保護或偏袒回教徒，任何人都有權力在自己的地方和生活上行使自己的信仰習俗和觀點。
及後這些牧者們堅持要將這位年輕弟兄葬回納倫，其目的就是爲了往後其他的基督徒在死後可以安葬在自己的家鄉，這也會對回教徒歸主起了相當大的影響。
此外，基督徒領袖們認爲，往後若有基督徒去世，無論他們住在哪裡，他們的親屬必需將死者的遺體運送到離納倫50公里以外埋葬，對於政府這種的做法，已加劇了回教徒及基督徒彼此間的緊張關係或宗教衝突，他們擔心這種做法既已開了先例，不但導致進一步的緊張局勢，也直接違反了憲法賦予公民所應有的權利 -- 他們可以在這國家實踐自己的宗教儀式和傳統。
因此，基督教社區和主要領導人不但計劃把有關的情況作公開的聲明，也希望將事情的真相透過新聞發布會和其他傳媒媒介將真相公諸於世，並開始從法律角度著手，去爭取信仰自由及宗教觀點。
基督徒領袖們擔心吉爾吉斯政府將違反憲法所賦予他們的權利，並認為這案件往後將被利用來對付基督徒，以指責基督徒造成社會的不穩定和宗教緊張局勢。對政府來説，這是一個極好的機會，使他們可以利用這種的情況，透過國會制定一些的法律來限制宗教自由和宗教組織。
親愛的主内弟兄姐妹們，我們的本地肢體們向全球的基督徒發出代求，這件事情的發生乃是具有歷史性的意義，因為它已經不是第一次了，類似的事情以及這種緊張的局勢幾乎每年都不斷地發生。但它可能是第一次被公開討論，並希望引起總統的注意。本地教會的牧者及領袖們也要求你們在後方以禱告來托著他們，並盡您所能將此困難的局面告訴大家，儘快將此真相公諸於世；同時也為著這些基督徒領袖們正計劃進行新聞發布會，和聘請律師與政府作法律訴訟及其他所需之經費代禱，求神為他們預備所需的一切。
願主在吉國彰顯祂的大能和公義，並與本地的肢體們同在。
主内
A.W.
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以下是吉國當地牧者發出的緊急代禱信
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To all involved with human rights,
Muslims have persecuted our church for over ten years. They are especially violent when we bury our dead. They go to extremes to keep us from burying our dead. They even plough our cemeteries with tractors, which is an unimaginable offense in our culture. We have our own sanctioned cemetery, but the government hasn’t done anything to stop the crimes even though our church has been officially registered for more than ten years.
Last week the crime went to a new level:
On the 18th of May, 2008 the 14 year old son of a brother, a member of our church, died from heart sickness.
On May 19th believers went to the Christian cemetery, given by the government, to dig the grave. About 50 protestors gathered to prevent the burial. With death threats and screaming they obstructed our grave diggers.
These organizers openly explained their motivation: if they allowed the body to be buried Christianity would spread among the villagers. We went to Naryn to find a peaceful and lawful solution to the conflict. The county head accused us of betraying Islam. Nonetheless, he sent three officials to mediate the situation, who pretended to explain the law to the rioters, but they did not take any serious action. The rioters told the boy’s father, that they would permit the body to be buried only if the father openly denied Jesus and accepted Islam. The father told the crowd he would not deny Jesus. Instead of protecting human rights and the Kyrgyz constitution, the government officials also asked the father to deny Jesus.
On May 20, 2008 we went with an official paper and asked Governor Omurbek Subanaliev to step in and help. He avoided us for two hours. Then we found him leaving the building with his entourage. He already knew about our plea and said the father of the dead boy should have listened to the crowd.
To clarify what he meant, we asked if he didn’t know what to do or if he was purposely strengthening the lawbreakers. Then I added that if he wanted to know what to do I could advise him. He asked me what to do. I told him the problem could be solved if he would send 3 policemen with us back to the village. The policemen would tell the crowd that we had the right to bury the body in our plot and that anyone who tried to stop us would be persecuted. We had solved a similar problem several years earlier in another village. Before he slipped away, the governor of Naryn told me that he did not want to bind their (the lawbreakers’) rights.
On the 21st of May we appealed to the president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, through newspapers in Bishkek asking him to protect our rights and stand for justice.
Back in Naryn, the government officials gave the dead boy’s father three choices in order for his son to be buried: the first condition was to deny Jesus and accept Islam. Second condition was to give his dead son to his Islamic grandfather who would bury the son without allowing any Christians present at the burial, not even the parents. The third was to completely remove the body from the village and bury him in another territory. This also goes against our cultural values and the reason we originally bought the cemetery plot years ago.
 The government’s conditions were so offensive that the father refused to agree. He reminded the government representatives that he hadn’t broken the law. The rioters were the ones preventing him from burying his son. The father then showed the certificate for the cemetery. The county head again tried to force the father to accept one of the three conditions. The father stood for his basic human rights. The government officials then tried to get him alone without other Christians, but they stood beside him.
All along the rioters were threatening to burn the house. The crowd who got physically violent.
It was obvious that the government was strengthening those opposed to the constitution and human rights. If they wanted, they could have easily solved the crisis.
 Later that night, on May 21st, more than 30 soldiers with riot gear arrived. Instead of dispersing the crowd, they corralled the Christians in the garden. Then four police broke in and carried out the dead boy’s body in the most degrading manner. Such lack of respect for the dead is unheard of in this part of the world. They shoved the body in the back of a Niva (a small Soviet jeep) and drove away. After the car drove away, the soldiers and crowd all broke up. The grieving family had no idea where they had taken their son’s body.
On May 22nd the father and some Christians went to a pass where they found the body tossed in a shallow hole and slightly buried. The Christians dug a proper grave and buried the body according to the ancient traditions of nomadic Kyrgyz; cleaning the body and wrapping it in a linen cloth.
This shocking event in Kyrgyzstan was not just a question of how and where to bury a body. Every fanatic in Kyrgyzstan is waiting to see if the Kyrgyz government can stand for human rights, or if the government will allow extremists to take the country back to the Dark-Age style of religious oppression.
All of you who are not indifferent to the events in Kyrgyzstan and desiring to help stop the persecution, we ask you to:
1) Pray for the father and his family. Pray that God would protect Christians in Naryn, and stand with us to stop the threats and persecution.
2) Please send a copy of this letter to your friends and their friends so the word about this gets out.
3) In whatever country you are in, as soon as you receive this letter, try to call or send a letter to a Kyrgyz embassy or write a letter to the president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, and express your disagreement with this abuse of human rights.
4) Please let human rights organizations in your area know about this so they can get involved.
5) Please stay continually involved with our conflict as events continue to unfold.
May 27, 2008
作者：自由投稿
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